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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $500.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

Affordability & Versatility [wide range of focus length]

Cons:

No image stability

Difficult to focus in low light but if you can get a lock on your subject, it delivers pretty sharp images with the use of external flash. This lens work great outdoor on a sunny day. In door, you will need the use of external flash to capture sharp images. Helpful to use a monopod if you do not have a steady hand, otherwise you will end up tossing out over 50% of your shots. Delivers pretty sharp images shooting within 30 yards, beyond that, your images will begin to get softer and softer, not to mention harder to focus on your subjects. A good lens for non-professional photographers. Not an ideal lens for taking sport and action shots due to its slow AF. That said, if you own a decent SLR and know how to work the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, you should still be able to get good quality photos with this lens even though it's not an 'L' signature lens manufactured by Canon. Most of us hold the notion that if the lens aren't considered 'high end' or 'prime' lens, then you will not get the sharpest of images. Not true. Taking sharp images also depend on the photographer's skill level . . . so don't be so quick to judge the quality of the lens if you are not a professional.

touristguy87

Registered: July 2007Posts: 36

Tokina 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AT-X 840 AF D review by touristguy87

Review Date: 2/29/2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $550.00| Rating: 8

Pros:

very compact, good images, nice tripod collar

Cons:

...wish that I could remove it :) definitely misses VR

...there are two versions of this lens, the old AF lens and the new AF-D lens. The previous review is talking about the old lens. It keeps popping up on eBay. For what the guy wants for it, and the others like it, I just decided to go ahead and buy a new one.

I am pleased with it so far, it is a very powerful lens for its size, it is an inch longer and slightly heavier than my 70-300VRII, maybe 2 or 3 inches longer than the Nikon 18-200VR, but almost the same diameter as the other two, so they are quite interchangeable in my bag. Though of course the VR lenses can be shot handheld down to 1-8s at full zoom (though normally it would be at least 1/250). The Tokina needs at *least* 1/750s at 400mm, shooting handheld. Though that's easy to get even at ISO200 F8, during the day.

This lens is going to work well during the day but the sun won't have to go down far before either it will need a tripod or you'll have to shoot at such a high ISO as to defeat the purpose of using the lens. Which is why I kept the 70-300VRII anyway. I would prefer a 300mm shot at ISO400 to a 400mm shot at ISO1600. But 300mm is not really long enough for daylight outdoors shooting even on a subframe so between the two I have a good 24/7 combo to 300mm+ for about $1100.

One other thing, don't forget to send the f# ring all the way around to the green number, or the camera won't be able to adjust the F# internally (eg d300).

SteveR12682

Registered: December 2006Posts: 10

Tokina 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AT-X 840 AF D review by SteveR12682

Review Date: 12/30/2006

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $650.00| Rating: 7

Pros:

Build quality

Cons:

Slightly soft at 400

This is a good lens for what it is: a relatively compact super-telephoto. The image quality gets a little soft at 400 mm wide open, but does sharpen up at f/7.1. The build quality is typical Tokina excellent.